Shepherd’s High: Sophie Deraspe Currently Filming “Berger” with Félix-Antoine Duval

French Canadian filmmaker Sophie Deraspe is currently taking big gulps of the French Alps for her sixth feature film currently in production. Saint-Narcisse thesp Félix-Antoine Duval toplines Berger – the book-to-film adaptation of D’où viens-tu, berger? micro_scope folks Luc Déry, Kim McCraw and Élaine Hébert are producing the project along with the Avenue B folks Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma and Sébastien Perret. Supporting players include Solène Rigot, Younes Boucif, Bruno Raffaelli, Véronique Ruggia, Michel Benizri, Guilaine Londez and David Ayala.

Set to conclude filming early next month, this will be ready for 2024. One noteworthy member of the tech squad is Viking filmmaker Stéphane Lafleur who also moonlights as a notable film editor. Deraspe’s last film Antigone was Canada’s Oscar submission back in 2019.

Loss of meaning, Mathyas trades his life in Montreal as a young advertiser for that of a shepherd in Provence. The path to the much-desired pastoral tranquility is, however, strewn with hard work. It is through self-mockery that Mathyas survives the violent delirium and decay of the first farmhouse in which he did his apprenticeship. But it is the visit of Élise, a civil servant who has quit her job, which gives a new direction to Mathyas’ quest. Together, they embark on a transhumance. Crossed by the hardships of the mountain, with a herd in their care, they will shape a new life for themselves.